Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
La Cuna de La Vida Volumen 1
La Cuna de La Vida Volumen 1
LA CUNA DE LA HUMANIDAD
THE CRADLE OF HUMANKIND
2014
Volumen I
ISBN
978-84-451-3477-1
DEPSITO LEGAL
M-2907-2014
Organizan:
Instituto de Evolucin en Africa, IDEA
(Fundacin General de la Universidad de Alcal)
Museo Arqueolgico Regional (Comunidad de Madrid)
Museo de la Evolucin Humana (Junta de Castilla y Len)
Museo Nacional y Casa de Cultura de Dar es Salaam
(Ministerio de Recursos Naturales y Turismo de Tanzania)
NDICE
VOLUMEN I
HISTORIOGRAFA
15
17
31
37
69
81
89
97
117
137
179
217
239
253
265
Textos en ingls
355
Bibliografa
VOLUMEN II
HOMNIDOS, ENTORNO Y COMPORTAMIENTO
09
27
43
59
121
137
153
173
189
199
209
221
David Uribelarrea
Charles M. Musiba
Pastory G. M. Bushozi
El abrigo de Mumba
Alyssa Crittenden
Katherine Grillo
231
Textos en ingls
309
Bibliografa
323
CATLOGO
Margaret E. Lewis
The Richard Stockton, Nueva Jersey,
EE.UU.
En la pg. anterior:
Varias escenas producidas en el Lecho II de la Garganta de Olduvai (detalle).
Ilustracin: Mauricio Antn, segn fuentes de Manuel Domnguez-Rodrigo y Enrique Baquedano.
Para contar esta historia vamos a usar una analoga teatral. La historia se basa en un teatro de la evolucin. Las fuerzas que actan
en este teatro, que son aqullos ya identificados por Darwin y sus
seguidores hace ms de 150 aos, se han mantenido constantes a
lo largo de la historia del mundo orgnico. A pesar de que la importancia relativa del clima, la competencia y otras fuerzas similares
hayan variado con el transcurso del tiempo, siempre han estado
presentes de una forma u otra. El resultado de la accin de estas
fuerzas es lo que llamaremos la obra ecolgica, es decir, la estructura y funcin de los ecosistemas locales y globales. Los actores
de esta obra son especies individuales, entre las cuales se encuentran
aqullas que desarrollan los roles esenciales para que la obra ecolgica no se colapse.
Lo primero y ms evidente sobre la obra ecolgica es que los actores se encuentran en constante cambio. Los procesos de extincin y especiacin estn en constante funcionamiento y el resultado es que algunos actores (especies) estn siempre en proceso
de desaparecer, mientras que otros estn apareciendo por primera
vez. En algunos lugares, como Amrica del Norte, no es necesario
remontarse mucho en el tiempo para encontrar grandes diferencias entre los carnvoros de gran tamao. De hecho, los tigres
dientes de sable y otros carnvoros ahora extintos estaban presentes
en ese continente hace menos de 10000 aos. En frica la situacin
es diferente, y tenemos que retroceder un milln de aos para
encontrar carnvoros que sean claramente diferentes de los que
viven en la actualidad. Si retrocedemos lo suficiente, ninguno de
los carnvoros presentes en la fauna nos resultara familiar. Pero
vamos a empezar esta historia en un punto intermedio, donde algunas especies nos son familiares, aunque en su mayora son muy
diferentes de las que se observan en la actualidad. Ese perodo es
el Mioceno Superior, datado en hace unos 7 a 5 millones de aos
(Ma).
241
Fig. 1. Parentesco entre todas las familias de carnvoros que existen actualmente. Los
nombres sealados en rojo pertenecen a las que estn presentes en frica hoy en da,
excepto los Ursidae*, que estuvieron presentes en el Norte de frica hasta tiempos histricos, pero se encuentran extintos ahora. Las especies marcadas en azul son las que
habitan en el mar. Su presencia ha sido observada en algn que otro momento en las
costas africanas. Grfico: Lars Werdelin.
El Mioceno Superior
El Mioceno, perodo que abarca entre hace 23,5 y 5,2 Ma BP a
menudo ha sido considerado como el pico de actividad en la evolucin de los mamferos, debido a su gran diversidad y variacin.
Durante la mayor parte de este tiempo, la diversidad de mamferos
en frica es poco conocida. En el momento en que comenzamos
nuestra historia, hace unos 7 Ma, el registro fsil africano que ha
llegado a nosotros es ms rico, sin embargo, la diversidad ecolgica
estaba empezando a atenuarse, sobre todo en el caso de los carnvoros. Varios grupos de carnvoros arcaicos o bien ya se haban
extinguido o estaban al borde de engrosar la lista de animales ex242
El Plioceno
Hacia el final del Mioceno, la mayora de las especies de carnvoros
entonces existentes se extinguieron y en sustitucin aparecieron
nuevas especies. Por qu sucedi esto an no se comprende, pero
el caso africano no fue una excepcin. Por lo tanto, se puede decir
que el Plioceno Inferior cont con un conjunto de actores ecolgicos bastante diferente a aqul que nos encontramos durante el
Mioceno Superior. Los carnvoros arcaicos haban desaparecido
Fig. 2. Ejemplos de carnvoros de gran tamao de Laetoli. A: Parahyaena howelli, vista lateral del crneo nmero KK82-58 perteneciente
a una hiena marrn extinta. B: Ikelohyaena abronia, vista lateral izquierda de la mandbula LAET 75-3338 de esta hiena extinta. C: Crocuta dietrichi, mandbula LAET 75-2953 en vista lateral izquierda de esta especie de hiena manchada ya extinta. D: Homotherium sp,
diente de sable izquierdo nmero EP 575/00 en vista lateral de un felino dientes de sable. E: Nyctereutes barryi, mandbula LAET 753522 desde vista lateral derecha de un perro mapache hoy extinto. F: Panthera sp, lateral derecho del maxilar del len ancestral de
Laetoli 1958. G. Panthera sp., lado derecho de la mandbula del leopardo ancestral LAET 75-537. La especie zindicada con la letra A
pertenece a los lechos inferiores de Laetoli, las dems a los lechos superiores. Foto: Lars Werdelin.
243
Carnvoros
La palabra carnvoro tiene dos significados. En el lenguaje cotidiano, un
carnvoro es un animal que recibe la mayora (o al menos una gran cantidad)
de sus necesidades energticas diarias a travs de la ingesta de otros animales.
Esto se da principalmente en forma de carne, pero el hueso, la mdula sea,
y otras partes de los animales tambin son consumidas por los carnvoros. El
otro significado de la palabra carnvoro hace referencia a los mamferos pertenecientes al orden Carnivora, que es uno de los rdenes de mamferos ms
importantes, as como una de las ms ricas en especies.
Este sentido doble del trmino carnvoro provoca gran confusin, ya que
no todos los animales que se alimentan de carne pertenecen al orden
Carnvora (existen, por ejemplo, marsupiales carnvoros y ballenas asesinas,
que en su mayora comen focas, y tampoco son miembros de dicho orden),
y, a su vez, no todos los miembros Carnvora incluyen una gran cantidad de
carne en su dieta (por ejemplo, el panda gigante, Ailuropoda melanoleuca,
est especializado en comer bamb y el mico len o kinkajou, Potos flavos,
sigue una dieta prcticamente frugvora). En la literatura cientfica esta
confusin se aborda mediante el uso de la palabra carnivoran para el
segundo significado de carnvoro. Por lo tanto, un carnivoran es un
miembro del orden Carnivora, mientras que un carnvoro es cualquier
animal que come cantidades significativas de carne. En el presente texto no
hemos hecho esta distincin. En su lugar, slo se emplea el trmino
carnvoro en el segundo sentido, ya que slo se nombra a miembros del
orden Carnivora.
el carnvoro dominante. Tambin hay restos de una especie relacionada con las nutrias de El Cabo, o nutrias sin garras, modernas
(Aonyx capensis). Este hallazgo es importante, ya que supone el
nico vestigio de un carnvoro acutico en Laetoli. An ms intrigante que el hallazgo de esta nutria extinta fue el descubrimiento
de restos de un miembro muy pequeo perteneciente a la familia
de los hinidos. Estos restos son similares en tamao a los de los
actuales prteles o lobos de tierra (Proteles cristatus), pero lamentablemente son slo huesos de las extremidades. La ausencia de
restos del crneo y de dientes no permite cerciorar si se tratara o
no de dicha especie. En tal caso se tratara de un descubrimiento
muy importante, ya que hay muy pocos hallazgos de lobos de
tierra en el registro fsil. Su historia evolutiva apenas se conoce.
Por ltimo, tambin se encontr una especie extinta de mangosta
enana en los lechos bajos de Laetoli. Esta especie es bastante
comn en todos los niveles del yacimiento.
244
Fig. 3. Ejemplos de carnvoros de pequeo tamao de Laetoli. A: Herpestes palaeoserengetensis, crneo desde vista lateral derecha LAET
78-5435 de una mangosta egipcia extinta. B: Helogale palaeogracilis, crneo LAET 75-2807a en vista lateral derecha de una mangosta
enana ya desaparecida. C: Mungos dietrichi, lado derecho de la mandbula nmero LAET 77-4571, perteneciente a la ya extinta mangosta
rayada. D: Prepoecilogale Bolti, vista lateral izquierda de la mandbula LAET 75-1358 de una zorrilla comn extinta. E: Herpestes meloncillo,
lado derecho de la mandbula LAET 74-289 perteneciente a una mangosta egipcia. Todos los restos fueron hallados en los lechos superiores
de Laetolil. Foto: Lars Werdelin.
Fig. 4. Huesos de la pezua de un perro mapache extinto, Nyctereutes barryi, LAET 753522. Foto: Lewis Werdelin.
era igual, a pesar de que los actores (especies) fueran casi todos
diferentes y su nmero algo mayor. Sin embargo, en la mayora de
los casos en que se detecta alguna diferencia, esto se debe a la extincin de un depredador especializado que luego no fue reemplazado por ningn otro. Sin embargo, esto permiti la entrada
en el nicho de especies ms generalistas
otros carnvoros del Plioceno. Laetoli, sin embargo, es slo una localidad con un entorno ambiental que se diferencia de otros lugares
contemporneos de frica Oriental. Al igual que hoy, hubo diferencias geogrficas dentro del grupo de los carnvoros durante el
Plioceno Inferior. De hecho, las diferencias geogrficas podran
haber sido mayores de lo que son ahora mismo. Por lo tanto, es
importante comparar los carnvoros Laetoli con los de lugares de
edad similar para obtener una imagen ms completa de la fauna
carnvora del este africano de la poca.
Yacimientos contemporneos a Laetoli indican una ausencia de
leones y leopardos, as como una gran diversidad de especies de
cnidos. Adems, la mayora de estos lugares carecen de la gran
diversidad de pequeos carnvoros (civetas, mangostas, zorillas)
observada en Laetoli. Las especies ms pequeas son relativamente
ms difciles de encontrar en la mayora de los yacimientos, mientras que son abundantes en Laetoli, debido a la naturaleza del
sitio. Estas cuestiones que afectan a las muestras y la clasificacin
de las especies por tamao son comunes en el registro fsil y debe
tenerse en cuenta en el estudio de la diversidad ecolgica.
Hay especies que no han sido encontradas en Laetoli, pero s se
hallan en otros yacimientos. Hablamos de dos grandes grupos: los
Las nutrias son un caso muy especial (fig. 5). Aunque la nutria de
El Cabo est presente en las capas inferiores de Laetoli, stas y
los familiares de las actuales nutrias de cuello manchado de frica
(Hydrictis maculicollis) aparecen muy raramente en el registro
fsil, con slo un puado de hallazgos. Las nutrias descubiertas
en casi todos los yacimientos pliocenos de frica Oriental (con
excepcin de Laetoli) pertenecen a un grupo completamente
extinguido, los Enhydriotini. stos se pensaba que estaban relacionados con la nutria marina (Enhydra lutris), pero ahora son
considerados como un grupo propio, y ms cercano a las nutrias
de El Cabo, de entre todas aquellas que an siguen vivas. El
grupo apareci por primera vez en el Mioceno Medio de Pakistn
y la India y lleg a frica en el Mioceno Superior. Estas especies
tempranas eran pequeas, del tamao de las nutrias actuales.
Pero a medida que aparecieron nuevas especies de nutrias, stas
se hicieron ms y ms grandes, hasta llegar a un tamao enorme
en el Plioceno Superior. Las ms grandes tenan un peso estimado
entre 250-300 kg. Esto las convierte en uno de los carnvoros
ms grandes de todos los tiempos. Qu coman es un misterio algunos han sugerido que se alimentaban de caracoles y almejas,
como las nutrias marinas actuales. Sin embargo, cmo pudieron
alcanzar tal tamao basndose en dicha dieta no est nada claro.
Otros han sugerido que podran haberse alimentado de grandes
bagres acorazados que vivan en los lagos y ros africanos del
Plio-Pleistoceno, pero no hay ninguna evidencia firme que sostenga esta hiptesis. Independientemente de su alimentacin, se
trata de un tipo de carnvoro que no estuvo presente en Laetoli,
ni lo est en la actualidad, ni en frica ni en ningn otro lugar
del planeta.
Por lo tanto, con el fin de entender plenamente la obra ecolgica
del Plioceno hay que tener en cuenta una serie de actores que no
se encuentran en Laetoli. Como veremos ms adelante, esto es de
gran importancia y tambin ayuda a explicar por qu la fauna carnvora de Laetoli tiene una apariencia tan moderna.
El Pleistoceno
Los cambios en la fauna carnvora en la transicin del Plioceno al
Pleistoceno (datada alrededor de 2,6 Ma) fueron leves. Parece
que ni los cambios climticos en todo ese tiempo, ni el desarrollo
de la primera industria ltica de nuestros ancestros tuvo un impacto
significativo en los carnvoros. Sin embargo, a medida que el
gnero Homo fue evolucionando en formas ms avanzadas (como
el Homo erectus), se produjeron mayores cambios, no slo para el
conjunto de los actores ecolgicos, sino tambin, por primera
vez, con respecto a la propia obra ecolgico. Tanzania contiene
fsiles que incluye entre sus restos una de las faunas clave de este
periodo, y tambin el que quizs sea ms famoso de todos los yacimientos relacionados con el estudio de los orgenes humanos: la
Garganta de Olduvai.
El conjunto carnvoro de Olduvai no est tan bien estudiado como
el de Laetoli, y tampoco es tan diverso. El lecho I cuenta con 15
especies de carnvoros identificados, y el lecho II tiene nueve, de
los cuales slo dos no se han hallado en el primero. Estos dos se
habran hallado tambin en el lecho I con casi total probabilidad,
si las muestras hubieran sido mayores. En nuestro anlisis consideraremos todo el conjunto como uno solo. Las 17 especies registradas en estos dos lechos pueden ser comparadas con las 25
conocidas actualmente en el Serengeti. La diferencia no es enorme,
pero es evidente que el muestreo no es completo. Como en
Laetoli, los carnvoros de Olduvai difieren en varios aspectos de
los que se encuentran en otros yacimientos en el Este de frica.
Una de estas diferencias se refiere a la muestra carnvoros de pequeo tamao, en especial las mangostas, encontradas en Olduvai.
Esto probablemente se deba a la intensa criba a la que se someten
los hallazgos en Olduvai para la bsqueda de pequeos fragmentos
de fsiles de homnidos, lo que conduce tambin al hallazgo de
numerosas especies de pequeos mamferos. En otros yacimientos
en el Este de frica no se practica una bsqueda tan intensa, lo
que puede conducir a un sesgo en el conocimiento de los carnvoros
ms pequeos.
Hay tres especies de cnidos en Olduvai, una especie de chacal,
un zorro orejudo y el Canis falconeri, una especie de gran tamao,
similar al del actual licaon. Entre las cinco especies actuales se incluyen adems de estas tres, dos especies de chacales, de los cuales
uno, el chacal dorado (Canis aureus), es un inmigrante relativamente
reciente llegado a frica desde Asia. En general, los cnidos de
Olduvai son similares a los de hoy da.
247
Fig. 5. Fragmento de maxiliar derecho de la nutria sin garras extinta, Aonyxini indet. KK82204 . Foto: Lars Wederlin.
248
Qu lo caus?
Puesto que estamos hablando de hechos lejanos en el tiempo, no
podemos estar absolutamente seguros de lo que pas. A pesar de
esto, tenemos una gran cantidad de evidencias que sugieren algunas
de las causas. Claramente, los ltimos 3,5 Ma han sido una poca
de grandes cambios climticos y ambientales. Se produjo un enfriamiento gradual del clima y una desecacin del medio con grandes repercusiones en muchos aspectos de la evolucin en frica.
Sera extrao que esto hubiera afectado a los carnvoros, ya que se
trata de un grupo de mamferos que est relativamente libre de
las restricciones climticas (porque la carne que consumen no se
encuentra directamente controlada por el clima, a diferencia de
las plantas consumidas por los herbvoros). An as, es casi seguro
que el cambio climtico afect a la abundancia de osos y nutrias
gigantes. Sin embargo, es probable que el cambio climtico tuviera
una repercusin menor en relacin al papel de los carnvoros
dentro de la obra ecolgica. Los cambios climticos ocurridos
entre hace 2,7 hasta 2,4 Ma, tuvo poco efecto entre los carnvoros,
aparte de una leve prdida de especies. Esto debera haber sido un
momento de cambios sustanciales, en lugar de quietud, tal y como
parece haber quedado registrado. Por lo tanto, a pesar de que el
cambio climtico est implicado en alguna medida, no puede considerarse la causa principal de los cambios, sobre todo no de los
posteriores.
251
Margaret E. Lewis
346
Late Miocene
The Miocene, the time period between 23.5 and 5.2 million years before present
(m.y.b.p.) has often been considered the peak of mammal evolution due to its
huge diversity and variation. For most of this time, mammal diversity in Africa is
poorly known. When we pick up our story, about 7 million years ago, the African
record improves, but the earlier diversity was beginning to fade. This is especially
true of the carnivores. Several groups of archaic carnivores had either just become
extinct or were on the verge of it. One example is the bear-dogs, the family Amphicyonidae, a group of mostly large carnivores that, as the name suggests, looked like a cross between bears and dogs. They have no close living relatives
and died out just before the end of the Miocene. Other groups, such as the hyenas (Hyaenidae), had undergone a major radiation in the Miocene, but their diversity was now diminishing and their ecological roles changing dramatically
from what they once had been. Even among carnivore families that remained
highly diverse, the Late Miocene saw the presence of forms that were quite different from those of today. Sabertooth cats (Felidae) and giant leopard-like relatives of living weasels and otters (Mustelidae) were common but are today completely extinct. On the other hand, the dog family (Canidae) evolved towards
greater diversity in Africa after the Miocene. This group evolved in North America
at least 40 million years ago, but didnt reach Eurasia and Africa until in the Late
Miocene. At that time, dog species such as jackals and foxes were very rare in
Africa, while they are now quite common, especially in savannas and deserts.
In summary, even though carnivore diversity was being reduced by the Late Miocene, it was still considerable, with many large carnivores around to prey on medium- and large-sized animals, among which were our earliest bipedal ancestors.
However, these bipedal apes were few, and there is no reason to believe that
any carnivores of the Late Miocene had evolved to specialize on them; they
were just one prey type among many.
Pliocene
Towards the end of the Miocene, most of the then existing species of carnivores
became extinct and new species appeared to replace them Why this happened is
not yet understood, but Africa was no exception. Thus, the ecological play of the
early Pliocene had quite a different set of actors than that of the Late Miocene.
The archaic carnivores were gone, as were the giant, cat-like mustelids. The hyenas
were now a small group composed mainly of the bone-eating scavengers we see
today, while modern-looking cats were living side by side with sabertooths. By far
the best example of the early Pliocene carnivore guild of eastern Africa is that of
Laetoli in northern Tanzania, known for Australopithecus afarensis and the famous
Laetoli footprints. We will therefore spend some time examining the carnivores of
Laetoli and comparing them with similarly aged carnivores from other sites in eastern Africa, as well as with the modern fauna.
The Laetoli carnivores. Here, we will focus on the carnivores found in the two
lower levels of the site: the Lower and Upper Laetolil Beds, dated between
about 4.4 and 3.6 m.y.b.p. The carnivore fauna at Laetoli is unique in many ways
and perhaps the most important such fauna known from eastern Africa. Some
examples of the fossils found there are shown in Figures 2 and 3.
The Laetoli carnivore fauna is unique in the diversity of both large and small species found there, in the presence of several species of dogs, in the strong presence of modern cats, and in the surprisingly modern appearance of the assemblage. Similarly aged or slightly younger faunas from other parts of eastern
Africa are quite different in their species mix, with fewer of the modern-type elements seen at Laetoli.
Carnivores, like other mammals, are rare in the Lower Laetolil Beds. However,
compared to the carnivores from younger beds at Laetoli, they are unusually
well preserved and complete, and also represent a quite different mix of species.
A skeleton of a primitive relative of the living brown hyena (Parahyaena brunnea)
has been found there and is also known from sites of similar age to Laetoli, such
as Kanapoi, where it is the dominant carnivore. There are also remains of a quite
young individual related to the modern clawless otter (Aonyx capensis). This
find is important, as is represents the only remains of an aquatic carnivore at
Laetoli. Even more intriguing than this otter find are the remains of a very small
member of the hyena family. These remains are similar in size to the living
aardwolf (Proteles cristatus), but unfortunately include only limb bones. In the
absence of remains of the skull and teeth it is not possible to say whether this
actually is an aardwolf. This would be a very important find, since there are very
few finds of aardwolves in the fossil record; their evolutionary history is therefore
almost unknown. Finally, an extinct species of dwarf mongoose has been found
in the Lower Laetolil Beds. This species is quite common in all levels at Laetoli.
Species diversity among carnivores in the Upper Laetolil Beds is greater than at
any other eastern African site. At least 28 species are known, representing all
carnivore families known from mainland Africa today. This is a remarkable number
given that paleontologists expect that some species, particularly smaller ones,
will not be preserved in the fossil record and the Serengeti fauna today includes
only 25 species of carnivore. There are four species of dog, including one that is
an early offshoot of the raccoon-dog lineage (Figure 4). This lineage is not
present in Africa today but had a sporadic presence on the continent in the Pliocene and Pleistocene. The other dog species from Laetoli represent lineages
that are present there today, a large and a medium-sized member of the Canisgroup, which includes the living jackals (three species) and hunting dog, all present in the Serengeti today. The same is true of the bat-eared fox, which had an
early relative in the Upper Laetolil Beds. Thus there are five dog species today,
and four are known from the Upper Beds.
In contrast, diversity of the Mustelidae (weasels, wolverines and relatives) appears
to have been reduced by one. Two mustelids (honey badger and zorilla) are present in the Serengeti today. In the Upper Beds, there is a very small species
related to the living striped weasel (a close relative of the zorilla), as well as a
species of honey badger . There is also evidence of a third mustelid species. Unfortunately, not enough is known of it to determine its relationships, but it is also
small and may be another zorilla relative.
The other two families of small carnivores, the Viverridae (civets) and Herpestidae
(mongooses) show a similar story: diversity is the same in the Upper Laetolil
Beds as it is today, though the exact species differ. The largest civet today is the
African civet (Civettictis civetta). In the Upper Beds an extinct species, Viverra leakeyi, was even larger than the living African civet. Two species of genet are present in the Serengeti today, and at least one was present in the fossil assemblage.
Among the mongooses, the fossils include representatives of the genera Galerella, Herpestes, Helogale, and Mungos, just like today. The marsh mongoose,
Atilax paludinosus and white-tailed mongoose, Ichneumia albicauda were not
present, yet the total number of species is the same due to additional species of
Herpestes and Mungos.
Differences from today are most noticeable among the hyenas and cats. Today,
the Serengeti is home to only three species of hyena: striped and spotted hyenas
and aardwolves. In the Upper Beds there are five known species, including early
spotted hyenas and early brown hyenas. Brown hyenas are today confined to
southern Africa. The other three Upper Bed hyenas represent extinct lineages.
Ikelohyaena abronia was an early member of the striped/brown hyena lineage
that evolved in the Miocene, and is very similar to the striped hyena of today.
Lycyaenops silberbergi was a member of a lineage known as the hunting hyenas.
Unlike other hyenas of the Pliocene and Pleistocene, this lineage did not have
adaptations for scavenging, but had long limbs and quite slender teeth, and a
life style that may have been similar to the living African hunting dog. This
lineage was widespread in Africa in the Late Miocene to Early Pleistocene, but
then became extinct both in Africa and the rest of the world. Finally, Pachycrocuta
was a giant hyena with a wide distribution in both Africa and Eurasia. It is only
known from a tiny fragment of enamel from the Upper Beds, and it is probable
that it was only a rare visitor traversing the area.
The Laetoli cats can be divided into two groups: the sabertooths and the modern
(or conical-toothed) cats. The former include two species, the very large, specialized sabertooth Homotherium, and the less specialized and smaller Dinofelis.
The latter was not particularly sabertoothed at all, but had canine teeth that looked much like those of modern cats. However, other features clearly show that
it was a member of the subfamily Machairodontinae, or sabertooth cats. The conical toothed cats of Laetoli are the same as those present in the Serengeti
today (lion, leopard, cheetah, caracal, serval, and wild cat). There is only evidence
for the presence of one of the medium sized cats, the caracal and serval, but it
is of course possible that both were present. It is unlikely that any of the species
at Laetoli were the same as the living species, but they were all closely related to
the species living in the area today.
In summary, the carnivores of the Upper Laetolil Beds differ only slightly from
those of the Serengeti today. Thus the ecological play was much the same, even
though the actors (species) were almost all different and there may have been a
few more than today. However, in most cases where there is a difference, this is
due to the extinction of a specialized predator that has not been replaced, but
instead a related species with more generalized adaptations has stepped into
this niche.
Other Pliocene carnivores. Laetoli, however, is just one locality, and one with an
environmental setting that differs from other eastern African sites of similar age.
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Just like today, there were geographic differences in the carnivore guild in the
early Pliocene. In fact, geographic differences may have been greater then than
they are now. Therefore, it is important to compare the Laetoli carnivores with
those of similarly aged sites to get a more complete picture of the eastern
African carnivore guild of the time.
Sites contemporaneous with Laetoli lack lions and leopards, as well as the
diversity of dog species present there. In addition, most sites lack the great diversity of small carnivores (civets, mongooses, zorillas) seen at Laetoli. Smaller
species are relatively more difficult to find at most sites, whereas they are abundant at Laetoli due to the specific nature of the site. Such issues of sampling and
sorting of species by size are common in the fossil record and must be taken
into account in comparisons of diversity.
Carnivores
The word carnivore has two meanings. In everyday language, a carnivore
is an animal that gets most (or at least a lot of) its daily energy requirements from other animals. This will be mostly in the form of meat, but
bone, bone marrow, and other parts of animals are also eaten by carnivores. The other meaning of the word carnivore is a member of the
mammal Order Carnivora, which is one of the most important mammal
orders, as well as one of the richest in species. This is double meaning
of carnivoreis the cause of considerable confusion, since not all animals
that eat meat belong to the Carnivora (there are, e.g. marsupial carnivores, and killer whales, which mostly eat seals, are also not members
of the Carnivora), while not all members of the Carnivora include a significant amount of meat in their diet (e.g., the giant panda, Ailuropoda
melanoleuca, specializes in eating bamboo and the kinkajou, Potos flavos is a fruit eater). In the scientific literature this confusion is dealt with
by using the word carnivoran for the second meaning of carnivore.
Hence, a carnivoran is a member of the Carnivora while a carnivore is
any animal that eats significant amounts of meat. In our present text we
have not made this distinction. Instead, we use carnivore in the second
sense throughout, since we are only concerned with the order Carnivora.
Africa did have other carnivores, but they were extinct by the time our
story begins.
The Order Carnivora includes a large number of families, only some of
which were ever present in Africa (see Figure 1). The most important division within the Carnivora is the separation into Caniformia (dog-like
carnivores) and Feliformia (cat-like carnivores). As the Figure shows,
Africa was clearly the land of cat-like carnivores. Of the dog-like carnivores, dogs (Canidae) themselves came late to Africa, bears and their
kin (Ursidae), as well as weasels and their kin (Mustelidae) are present
but were never diverse compared to other continents. The other families
of dog-like carnivores were never present on the African continent
(though various seals and sea-lions, and even a walrus inhabited the
seas outside Africa). Why the small, adaptable weasels and martens never occurred in Africa south of the Sahara is not fully understood, but
part of the answer may lie in the presence of the likewise small and
adaptable civets and mongooses on the continent. Since cat-like carnivores tend to be more strongly adapted to eating meat (or insects in
the case of the smaller mongooses), Africa was home to the largest
concentration of meat-eaters of any continent.
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Species not present at Laetoli but found at other sites include two main groups:
bears and otters. Bears are not found in Africa today (there were bears in North
Africa until historic times, but they are now extinct). However, in the early Pliocene
bears were present at most eastern African sites. These bears are only distantly
related to modern bears. They were very large, with long limbs and may have
been more active hunters than modern bears such as the European brown bear.
The otters are a very special case (Figure 5). Although a clawless otter is present
in the Lower Laetolil Beds, these and relatives of the living African spotted-necked
otter (Hydrictis maculicollis) are very rare in the fossil record, with only a handful
of finds. The otters found at almost all Pliocene sites in eastern Africa (except
Laetoli) belong to a completely extinct group, the Enhydriodontini. These were
once thought to be related to the living sea otter (Enhydra lutris), but are now
considered to be a group of their own, and among living otters may be closest to
clawless otters. The group first appeared in the middle Miocene of Pakistan and
India and reached Africa in the Late Miocene. These early species were small,
about the size of living otters. But with successive species these otters became
larger and larger, so that by the late Pliocene they had grown to enormous size.
The largest had an estimated weight of 250-300 kg. This makes them among the
largest carnivores of all time. What they ate is a mystery some have suggested
that they fed on snails and clams like living sea otters, though how they could
have grown to such enormous size on this diet is unclear. Others have suggested
that they may have fed on the very large, armored catfish living in the lakes and
rivers of the African Plio-Pleistocene. However, there is no firm evidence for this
hypothesis either. Whatever they ate, they represent a type of carnivore that is
not present at Laetoli, nor is it present in modern-day Africa or elsewhere.
So, in order to fully understand the ecological play of the Pliocene we have to
add a number of actors that are not found at Laetoli. As we shall see later, this is
of great significance and also helps to explain why the carnivore fauna of Laetoli
has such a modern appearance.
Pleistocene
Changes to the carnivore fauna at the transition from the Pliocene to Pleistocene
(today dated to around 2.6 million years ago) were slight. It seems as if neither
climatic changes around that time, nor the evolution of the first stone toolmaking human ancestors had a significant impact on the carnivores. However,
when more advanced members of the genus Homo (such as Homo erectus)
evolved, major changes took place, not only to the set of actors in the ecological
play, but also, for the first time, to the play itself. The fossil sites of Tanzania
include one of the key faunas of this time period, and perhaps the most famous
of all sites related to the study of human origins: Olduvai Gorge.
The carnivore fauna of Olduvai is not as well studied as that of Laetoli, and also is
not as diverse. Bed I has 15 identified carnivore species, and Bed II has nine, of
which only two are not known from Bed I. These two would very likely have been
found in Bed I, as well, if the samples had been larger, and we shall here consider
the assemblage as one. The 17 species recorded from these two beds can be compared with the 25 known from the Serengeti fauna of today. The difference isnt
enormous, but clearly sampling is not complete. Like Laetoli, the carnivores from
Olduvai differ in several respects from those found at other sites in eastern Africa.
One of these differences concerns the sample of small carnivores, especially mongooses, found at Olduvai. This is likely due to the intense sieving at Olduvai in the
search for small fragments of hominid fossils, leading also to the find of many small
mammal species. Other sites in eastern Africa have not been sieved to this degree.
There are three species of dogs at Olduvai, a jackal species, a bat-eared fox, and
a large species, Canis falconeri, of the size of a living hunting dog. The five
modern species include an additional two species of jackals, of which one, the
golden jackal (Canis aureus), is a relatively recent immigrant to Africa from Asia.
Overall, the dogs of Olduvai are similar those of today.
There is only a single species of mustelid at Olduvai, identified as a species of
clawless otter. The remains are not adequate to say of this is the modern species
or an extinct one. No terrestrial mustelids are known from Olduvai.
There is also only a single species of civet at Olduvai. This is the strange Pseudocivetta ingens, a species that differs in many respects from all living civets. It
had blunt teeth and not much of a cutting edge to its carnassial teeth. It has
been suggested to have been a fruit-eater. The relationships of Pseudocivetta
are obscure, but a recent hypothesis sees it as related to the living palm civets of
Asia (genus Paradoxurus). Unlike in the modern fauna, there are no genets known
from Olduvai.
There are no fewer than seven species of mongoose known from Olduvai, one
more than in the Serengeti today. These seven species all represent genera alive
today, but only three, the Egyptian mongoose, the white-tailed mongoose, and
the marsh mongoose, are likely to represent the living species. Of the other four
extinct species, two belong to the genus Mungos and two to the genus Galerella.
Unlike in the modern fauna, the dwarf mongoose is not represented at Olduvai.
The hyena and cat species of Olduvai are quite similar to the living fauna. There
are two hyena species, spotted and striped, just as today, but no aardwolves.
Among the cats, lion and leopard are present (now in the form of the modern
species), and also a species of Dinofelis. Given the large sample of mongooses,
it is surprising that there is no material of any smaller cat species from Olduvai.
Looking at other eastern African sites from a similar time period to Olduvai Beds
I and II adds a number of species that are not present at Olduvai. Most conspicuous among these are the specialized sabertooths Homotherium and Megantereon. The absence of the former from Olduvai is puzzling, since it is present at
nearly all other sites. Other species present elsewhere include two species of Dinofelis (different from that at Olduvai), two species of genet, one additional species of spotted hyena, the African civet, at least two species of otters (not Aonyx
as at Olduvai), and several small cat species.
The absence of specialized sabertooths, as well as the earliest presence of modern lions and leopards, gives Olduvai, like Laetoli before it, a more modern appearance than contemporary sites in eastern Africa. What is important, however,
are the changes to the play, not just to the actors, that have taken place in the
time since Laetoli, and that is what we shall consider next.
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in Africa. The differences between extinct and living hyenas are for the most part similar the extinct forms were more specialized than the living ones.
The second group of missing species is the large omnivores. These include the
bears and giant otters (which were more terrestrial than modern otters and therefore probably fed on more than just fish and clams). These died out quite
early, before 2 million years ago, but even after this time, there were some largebodied civets, such as Pseudocivetta, that were clearly omnivorous.
What remains today of the once great diversity of large carnivores is a small
number of specialist meat-eaters. The majority of these can be considered generalists, the exception being the cheetah, which is highly specialized for highspeed pursuit in open environments. It is probably not coincidental that cheetahs
several times have been on the verge of extinction.
Since we are talking about events far in the past, we cannot be absolutely certain
about what happened. Despite this, we have a good deal of evidence suggesting
some causes. Clearly, the past 3.5 million years have been a time of great climatic
and environmental change. There has been a stepwise cooling of the climate
and drying of the environment that has had a significant impact on many aspects
of evolution in Africa. It would be strange if this did affect the carnivores, even
though this is a group of mammals that is relatively free of climatic constraints
(because the meat they eat is not directly climatically controlled, unlike the plants
eaten by herbivores). Thus, climatic change almost certainly had an impact on
the abundance of bears and giant otters. However, climatic change probably
played a relatively minor role in the changes to the carnivore part of the ecological
play. Climatic changes occurred during the time interval 2.7-2.4 million years
ago, yet had little effect on the carnivores, apart from a minor loss of species.
This should have been a time of substantial change, rather than quiescence.
Therefore, although climate change is implicated to some degree, it cannot
have been the main cause of the changes, especially not the later ones.
Instead, the finger points firmly in another direction - at ourselves and our ancestors.
At the time of Laetoli, our ancestors were simply carnivore prey, with no possibility of
competing with them, either for live prey or for scavenge. Some Australopithecus
may indeed have scavenged, but not in the presence of carnivore opposition. This
was a situation that apparently persisted for some time. By the time our ancestors
had learned to make stone tools, the increase in dietary diversity may have placed
them in greater competition with large-bodied omnivores such as bears and giant
otters that were already stressed by climate change, the combination driving them to
extinction. By Olduvai time, human ancestors had changed their dietary habits further,
to include more meat in their diet. This, in combination with changes to the environment that opened up the landscape led to increased confrontation between humans
and carnivores, with the evolved technology and social behavior of our ancestors
gradually giving them the edge and driving specialist carnivores and large-bodied
omnivores to extinction. The carnivores that remain are those that because of their
generalist nature were able to coexist with human ancestors.
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It might appear that the events recounted here occurred far in the past and are
not relevant to the modern world. However, large carnivores at the top of the
food pyramid are an essential component of a healthy ecosystem. Studies of
modern ecosystems have shown that large carnivores play a key role in regulating
the structure of the ecosystem and their loss has unpredictable consequences
at all levels. The lesson from the past is that in terms of its large carnivores, the
modern African fauna is, despite appearances, not natural, but a small remnant
of a much greater diversity. This has important consequences for conservation,
since even minor further loss of large carnivores can have enormous consequences for the entire ecosystem. A further lesson is that humans have been tampering
with the ecosystem for a long time, in fact from the first time we were able to do
so. At first this was unwittingly, but that is not the case today. We know better
now, and must work to avoid, and where possible, rectify, the mistakes made by
our distant ancestors. If not, very soon we may have neither ecological play nor
actors.
Glossary
Guild: A group of animals that use the same resource in similar ways. An example
is the guild of larger carnivores in Africa. These animals all feed on the meat of
medium- and large-sized antelopes, but use different strategies that allow them
to coexist.
Ecosystem: A biological system consisting of all the living organisms in a particular
area as well as the nonliving environment with which the organisms interact,
such as air, soil, water and sunlight.
Archaic: Old-fashioned. Used about groups of animals that originated earlier
than the majority of animals in their environment.
Radiation: The diversification of a group of animals from its origin in a single
species. Adaptive radiations, based on the acquisition of an important, or key,
character, often occur rapidly on an evolutionary time scale.
Bipedal: An animal that walks on two legs. Thus, humans are bipedal, but so are
birds.
Aquatic: An animal that spends most or all of its time in water. When used about
mammals, this typically refers to species that obtain their food in water.
Niche: The sum of adaptations of an animal to the environment and community
in which it lives. Niche is a central, but very difficult and controversial concept
in ecology.
Scavenger: An animal that consumes carcasses of prey that it has not itself killed.